<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>here, at the end of all things by orphan_account</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26058511">here, at the end of all things</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>And he’s not about to let his younger sister burn, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Near Death Experiences, Sozin's Comet, sokka just being the best older brother of all time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:02:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>953</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26058511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There are two options here, Sokka thinks, hanging half off the airship with a broken leg, firebenders surrounding them, Toph slipping through his hands. </p><p>To allow Toph to feel what his mother felt in her last moments, or to let his grip slide, and allow her to fall. </p><p>In the end, it’s not even a choice.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Toph Beifong &amp; Sokka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>My Favorite Atla Fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>here, at the end of all things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>*posts this at 1 am and dips* </p><p>Alternate title: it’s called: freefall</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For a second, there is just free fall. </p><p> </p><p>And then Sokka hits solid metal, his leg twisting unnaturally underneath him with a sickening <em> crack, </em> and he’s desperately reaching out, closing his fingers around Toph’s wrist. </p><p>“Hold on, Toph!” He grits out, trying to ignore the waves of nauseating pain that radiate from his leg. </p><p>“Aye aye, Captain!” She calls up, tone earnestly terrified and <em>trusting</em>, and Sokka almost wishes she’d made a smart remark. </p><p> </p><p>The firebenders on either side draw closer, and Sokka manages to take one out with the boomerang, and the other with his sword, which then goes flying into the burning oblivion beneath them. </p><p> </p><p>Toph slips, her hand slick with sweat, and Sokka gasps and digs his nails in. He glances up; a crowd of soldiers have spotted them, and one has a hand out, gathering heat and power in his palm. </p><p>Sokka shuts his eyes tight. </p><p>“I-I don’t think Boomerang is coming back this time, Toph,” he says, and hears a choked sob beneath him. “I think this is the end.” </p><p> </p><p>Sokka forces his eyes open when a wave of heat reaches his face. </p><p> </p><p>There are two options here. </p><p> </p><p>To allow Toph to feel what his mother felt in her last moments, or to let his grip slide, and allow her to fall. </p><p> </p><p>In the end, it’s not even a choice. </p><p> </p><p>Sokka, with the last vestige of strength left in him, rolls off the platform as the flames lick his feet and grabs Toph as they go hurtling towards the scorched Earth. He pulls her tight to him, one hand in her damp hair, closes his eyes, and waits. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t hit solid ground. </p><p>Toph shouts, and they slam into the metal of an airship. Sokka rolls so Toph lands on top of him, and Suki comes careening around the corner. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you guys alright?” She yells, sliding onto her knees in front of them. “Oh, spirits, Sokka, your leg-“</p><p> </p><p>Sokka hooks onto Suki’s wrist as she runs her hand over a gash in his forehead, and pulls her close. </p><p>“We’re alive,” he says, hoarse, hysterical, pressing his forehead to her hers. “We’re alive.” </p><p> </p><p>Next to him, Toph bursts into tears.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>At some point, someone’s going to realize the Fire Lord is having an extended sleepover and force them to sleep in separate rooms, as is proper. </p><p> </p><p>But Zuko still can’t sit up for more than ten minutes at a time and he wakes with nightmares every night, and Aang is still spending half his days wandering the halls like a specter, dark shadows under his eyes, and the other half hanging off Katara like he’s scared she’ll disappear, and none of the palace staff seem capable of telling either of them ‘no’, so no one bothers them yet. </p><p>Sokka isn’t much surprised when he’s woken up several hours past midnight to a small hand on his shoulder. He hasn’t been allowed to sleep through the night in weeks. </p><p>Sokka blinks a few times and props himself up. Suki is still ensconced into his side, hair loose over her face. They’re up in Zuko’s bed, on account of Sokka’s badly broken leg, and Zuko’s inability to sleep anywhere softer than the wooden floor. Katara and Aang are fast asleep on a roll on the ground, Zuko a few feet away. </p><p> </p><p>Toph is sitting on the edge of the best next to him, arms wrapped tight around her chest. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Sokka mumbles. “What’s wrong, Toph?”</p><p> </p><p>Toph shakes her head. She’s been eerily quiet, these last few days. She’s always been so upfront about her pain that to see her silent feels almost like the receding of the tide before a tsunami. </p><p> </p><p>“Toph,” Sokka says again, and reaches out a hand, wrapping it around her wrist. </p><p> </p><p>“I, I just-“ she sniffles. “We really almost died, didn’t we?” </p><p> </p><p>The wave crashes on the shore, and Toph breaks. Her shoulders shake and Sokka pulls her tight to him, nocks his chin over her head. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re okay,” he says softly. “I’m okay, everyone’s okay.” </p><p>“But we almost <em> weren’t</em>-“ </p><p>“I know. I know. But it didn’t happen, alright? Everyone’s alive, and we’re gonna stay that way.” </p><p> </p><p>“I-I know, but it’s like- it’s like my brain doesn’t know.” Toph says, and that’s what wakes Suki up. She props herself up on one elbow and rubs at her eyes. </p><p>“Did you have a nightmare, Toph?” She asks, sleepy, and Sokka keeps one hand on Toph, and reaches out the other for Suki. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Toph nods jerkily and tries to explain.</p><p>“I- we were-“ She stops. Sokka sighs and presses a kiss to her hair.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just a dream.” He says softly. “It’s not real.” </p><p>“Come lay down. I have nightmares too. Need a strong earthbender to keep them away.” Suki yawns. </p><p> </p><p>Toph mutely climbs between Sokka and Suki, careful of Sokka’s leg. She curls up, one hand still wrapped tight around Sokka’s, and within a few minutes, her breathing has evened out again. </p><p>Sokka stares up at the canopy of Zuko’s bed, and sends a silent prayer of thanksgiving to any spirit listening.</p><p> </p><p>Because tomorrow, Iroh and Hakoda are supposed to arrive, and they’ll have work for Zuko and Aang. And tomorrow, there are dozens of meetings to be had and hard decisions to be made, and every single one of them will be pulled in a thousand directions. And tomorrow, they will continue the bitter work that is healing a world fractured by one-hundred years of war.</p><p>Tomorrow is not guaranteed, and Sokka has no idea what will happen next, what will happen to any of them. </p><p> </p><p>But for now, there is this- his family, asleep, alive, and close to him- and for now, that is enough. </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>